With the dire consequences of climate change looming, archaeologists recognize the importance of communicating their findings on ancient landscapes and the threats that face vulnerable populations.

A line of protesters against the construction of the Dakota Access oil pipeline on the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota head to a unity rally on the west steps of the State Capitol in September 2016 in Denver.
(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)September 9, 2018

Archaeology is not only about stones and bones: it is mainly about the people of the past. DNA is one way to get from the stones and the bones to the people and their stories.

Marcoo was a 1.4 kilotonne ground-level nuclear test carried out at Maralinga in 1956. The contaminated debris was buried at this site in the 1967 clean-up known as Operation Brumby.
Author providedFebruary 2, 2017

History is writ large in the remote areas around Woomera and the Nullarbor: from the fossils of microscopic, cell-like creatures to ancient stone tools to the deitrus of rocket tests and the painful legacy of the Maralinga atomic blasts.

Third-year archaeology student Dominic Coe replicates a painting of rhino based on the original image in France’s Grotte Chauvet.
SuppliedJanuary 4, 2017